Sunday June 8, 2008

Call to Silence & Opening Meditation



"There is a spirit that pervades everything, that is capable of powerful song and radiant movement, and that moves in and out of the mind. The colors of this spirit are multitudinous, a glowing, pulsing rainbow...

This spirit, this power of intelligence, has many names and many emblems.

She appears on the plains, in the forests, in the great canyons, on the mesas, beneath the seas."

"Grandmother of the Son" by Paula Gunn Allen



Readings


A Reading from the Dalai Lama



To feel true compassion for all beings, we must remove any partiality from our attitude toward them. Our normal view of others is dominated by fluctuating and discriminating emotions. We feel a sense of closeness toward loved ones. Toward strangers or acquaintances we feel distant. And then for those individuals whom we perceive as hostile, unfriendly, or aloof, we feel aversion or contempt. The criterion for our classifying people as friends or enemies seems straightforward. If a person is close to us or has been kind to us, he or she is a friend. If a person has caused us difficulty or harm, he or she is a foe. Mixed with our fondness of our loved ones are emotions such as attachment and desire that inspire passionate intimacy. Similarly, we view those whom we dislike with negative emotions such as anger or hatred. Consequently, our compassion toward others is limited, partial, prejudicial, and conditioned by whether we feel close to them.

Genuine compassion must be unconditional. We must cultivate equanimity in order to transcend any feelings of discrimination and partiality...

A way of cultivating equanimity and transcending our feelings of partiality and discrimination is to reflect upon how we are all equal in our aspiration to be happy and overcome suffering. Additionally, we all feel that we have a basic right to fulfill this aspiration. Who do we justify this right? Very simply, it is part of our fundamental nature. ..my aspiration to be happy and overcome suffering is part of my fundamental nature, as is it part of yours. If this is so, then just as we do, all others have the right to be happy and overcome suffering simply because they share this fundamental nature. It is on the basis of this equality that we develop equanimity toward all. In our meditation we must work at cultivating the attitude that "just as I myself have the desire to be happy and overcome suffering, so do all others, and just as I have the natural right to fulfill this aspiration, so do all others. We should repeat this thought as we meditate and as we go about our lives, until it sinks deep into our awareness.

It is best to cultivate the feeling of equanimity by first focusing on relative strangers or acquaintances, those for whom you have no strong feeling one way or other. From there you should meditate impartially, moving onto friends and then enemies. Upon achieving an impartial attitude toward all sentient beings, you should meditate on love, the wish that they find the happiness they seek. The seed of compassion will grow if you plant it in fertile soil, a consciousness moistened with love. When you have watered your mind with love, you can begin to meditate upon compassion. Compassion, here, is simply the wish that all sentient beings be free of suffering.

from An Open Heart: Practicing Compassion in Everyday Life. (109-114)

A Reading from Alice Walker's The Color Purple

Here's the thing, say Shug. The thing I believe. God is inside you and inside everybody else. You come into the world with God. But only them that search for it inside find it. And some times it just manifest itself even if you are not looking, or don't know what you looking for. Trouble do it for most folks, I think.

A Reading from Matthews 9: 9-13, 18-26

As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax office; and he said to him, "Follow me." And he rose and followed him. And as he sat at table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Jesus and his disciples. And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, "Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?" But when he heard it, he said, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. Go and learn what this mean, 'I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.' For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners."

While he was thus speaking to them, behold, a ruler came in and knelt before him, saying, "My daughter has just died; but come and lay your hand on her, and she will live." And Jesus rose and followed him, with his disciples. And behold, a woman who had suffered from a hemorrhage for twelve years came up behind him and touched the fringe of his garment; for she said to herself, "If I only touch his garment, I shall be made well." Jesus turned, and seeing her he said, "Take heart, daughters, your faith has made you well." And instantly the woman was made well. And when Jesus came to the ruler's house, and saw the flute players, and the crowd making a tumult, he said, "Depart; for the girl is not dead but sleeping." And they laughed at him. But when the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took her by the hand, and the girl arose. And the report of this went through all that district.

A Reading from the Gospel of Mary

Peter said to him: "Since you have become the interpreter of the elements and the events of the world, tell us: What is the sin of the world?" The Teacher answered: "There is no sin. It is you who make sin exist, when you act according to the habits of your corrupted nature; this is where sin lies. This is why the Good has come into your midst. It acts together with the elements of your nature so as to reunite it with its roots." Then he continued: "This is why you become sick, and why you die: it is the result of your actions; what you do takes you further away. Those who have ears, let them hear."

Call to Conversation"